Schnucks: Suspected shoplifter struck employee before police shooting

LADUE, Mo. – Black Lives Matter demonstrators gathered at the Ladue Crossing Shopping Center early Wednesday evening to protest the shooting of a suspected shoplifter by a Ladue police officer.

The suspected shoplifter, a 33-year-old woman, assaulted a Schnucks worker before the shooting, according to a news release from the grocery store.

St. Louis County police are handling the investigation. They issued a call for any customers or witnesses with whom they have yet to speak to come forward. Investigators want to hear about every detail, no matter how insignificant a potential witness thinks it may be.

Police have yet to release the race of the suspected shoplifter who was shot by police.

There is video from Ladue police cars at the scene, county police said. Schnucks has turned over surveillance video from inside the store to investigators.

Schnucks has also released a statement detailing, in part, what led up to Tuesday’s shooting.

According to the store, employees stopped a woman as she tried to leave with items she didn't buy. She snatched a few things, ran outside, and fell. A worker collecting carts outside, who did not know about the shoplifting, tried to help her but she struck the worker and ran off.

A responding female Ladue officer initially called for an ambulance for the woman, then ended up trying to arrest her but the suspect resisted, St. Louis County police said.

The officer then shot her in the torso during a struggle and a second suspect, an adult male, fled the scene, according to police.

The woman who was shot is hospitalized but expected to survive, police said. She had yet to be charged with a crime as of late Wednesday afternoon.

The officer involved is 37 years of age with 13 years on the force. She was on paid administrative leave pending completion of the investigation, Ladue police said.